Pope Francis delivered a surprise video address to the TED 2017 conference Tuesday — and he had a message about power.
TED Talks describes itself as “a global initiative about ideas worth spreading” and brings together influencers in fields such as technology and entertainment.
In the video, the pontiff, speaking in Italian, began by telling the conference in Vancouver that he likes the title they selected for their meeting, “The Future You.”
“The future is made of ‘yous,’ it is made of encounters, because life flows through our relations with others,” he said, according to an English translation of his remarks provided by TED Talks. “Quite a few years of life have strengthened my conviction that each and everyone's existence is deeply tied to that of others: life is not time merely passing by, life is about interactions.”
He urged the conference to remember that the “growth of scientific and technological innovation” should be accompanied by “equality and social inclusion,” and told the innovators to embrace the “revolution of tenderness” as they make advances in science and technology.
“And what is tenderness?” Francis asked. “It is the love that comes close and becomes real.”
Tenderness, he argued, “is the path of choice for the strongest, most courageous men and women,” and it "is not weakness; it is fortitude; it is the path of solidarity, the path of humility.”
The pope also emphasized that “the more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more responsible you are to act humbly,” adding that “if you don’t, your power will ruin you, and you will ruin the other.”
Francis said that there is an enlightening saying about power in Argentina:
"Power is like drinking gin on an empty stomach. You feel dizzy, you get drunk, you lose your balance, and you will end up hurting yourself and those around you, if you don’t connect your power with humility and tenderness.Through humility and concrete love, on the other hand, power — the highest, the strongest one — becomes a service, a force for good.
Francis told the innovators that “the future of humankind isn't exclusively in the hands of politicians, of great leaders, of big companies.”
“Yes, they do hold an enormous responsibility,” he said. “But the future is, most of all, in the hands of those people who recognize the other as a 'you' and themselves as part of an ‘us.’ We all need each other.”
He asked the gathering to “please, think of me as well with tenderness, so that I can fulfill the task I have been given for the good of the other, of each and every one, of all of you, of all of us.”
